Denny Hamlin, who was fined $25,000 by NASCAR on March 7, now is facing an unknown recovery period for a broken vertebrae. / Douglas Jones, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

Denny Hamlin has decided not to appeal a $25,000 fine by NASCAR for making comments about the new car that the sactioning body viewed as detrimental.

In a post late Thursday afternoon on Twitter, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said, "After a lot of thought I have decided not to appeal the fine NASCAR has issued. Dragging myself, my team and NASCAR through the mud for the next 2 weeks would not be good for anyone. I firmly believe I am in the right on this issue and will stand behind my decision not to pay. I understand NASCAR will do what they feel is necessary based on my decision. Thanks to all of my fans and peers who have supported me in this decision. I look forward to putting it to rest."

In a statement, NASCAR announced the penalty would be settled per Section 12-3 of its rulebook. Under that rule, NASCAR can garnish a driver's purse money or points fund bonuses. NASCAR also said it "considered this matter closed."

"There was dialogue between Denny and NASCAR during the week, and this was the resolution that came about," NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said. "We are all looking forward to putting this behind us."

The statistics from the first two races of the season supported Hamlin's contention. The Daytona 500 featured fewer green-flag passes than last season. According to NASCAR statistics, Phoenix featured 1,213 green-flag passes Sunday with the Gen 6 vs. 1,658 with last year's model on Nov. 11 at the 1-mile oval.

"There's a lot of room for improvement for this car," Hamlin said in a Speed interview that echoed several of his Phoenix postrace comments. "It's going to take a little while to get these cars driving as good as we had in Generation 5."

Hamlin was furious when he learned of the fine last Thursday.

"This is the most upset and angry I've been in a long, long time about anything that relates to NASCAR," the 32-year-old said that day. "â?¦ The truth is what the truth is. I don't believe in this (fine), I'm never going to believe in this. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to pay the fine. If they suspend me, they suspend me. I don't care at this point."

Later that day, he tweeted in part that although he would go through the appeals process, "I believe I was severely disrespected by NASCAR by getting fined. I believe that the simple fact of us not even having a conversation about this issue before I was hit with a fine has something to say about our relationship."

When the fine was announced, general fan reaction was that it was harsh. They expressed support for the driver via social media and on signs at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during last Sunday's race.

It marked a fan outpouring since the driver mostly stays under the radar. He was not one of NASCAR's 10 most popular drivers last year and typically doesn't draw a loud reaction from fans during pre-race introductions.

"I mean, we are in Vegas, so we can try to count the odds of when the apology is going to be coming and when the, 'We're all in this together to grow this sport' tweet is going to be coming," Gordon said. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Jeff Burton said he thought NASCAR had overreacted.

In an interview with USA TODAY Sports at the time, his girlfriend Jordan Fish said: "He believes what he says. He stands his ground. And that's something I admire about him. If somebody wants to tell him differently, he has these values he believes in and he's not going to back away from that."

This isn't the first time Hamlin has been fined. In 2010, he was secretly docked $50,000 after speculating in an online Twitter conversation (with this author) that NASCAR sometimes threw debris cautions to tighten the field for the benefit of the show.

Hamlin clawed his way out of Virginia's short tracks when Joe Gibbs Racing noticed him and gave him a shot to race NASCAR in 2005. After just a year in the Nationwide Series, he was promoted to the Sprint Cup Series.

Hamlin has never missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR's 10-race championship run, winning 22 races along the way. In 2010, he entered the season finale with the points lead but was overtaken by Jimmie Johnson for the championship.